"Wants me to pay her fare! I see myself doin' it! I've got ways enough
to spend my money without paying fares for Nantucket folks."

"If you and she sign articles, as she calls it, you'll have to pay more
than fares," said Captain Perez, in a matter-of-fact tone. "I think same
as Eri does; she's a smart woman. We'll have to meet her at the depot,
of course."

"Well _I_ won't! Cheeky thing! Let her find out where I am! I cal'late
she'll have to do some huntin'."

"Now, see here, Jerry," said Captain Eri, "you was jest as anxious to
have one of us get married as anybody else. You haven't got to marry
the woman unless you want to, but you have got to help us see the thing
through. I wish myself that we hadn't been quite so pesky anxious
to give her the latitude and longitude, and had took some sort of an
observation ourselves; but we didn't, and now we've got to treat her
decent. You'll be at that depot along with Perez and me."

When Captain Eri spoke in that tone his two cronies usually obeyed
orders. Even the rebellious Jerry, who had a profound respect for his
younger friend, gave in after some grumbling.

They sat up until late, speculating concerning the probable age and
appearance of the expected visitor. Captain Perez announced that he
didn't know why it was, but he had a notion that she was about forty
and slim. Captain Jerry, who was in a frame of mind where agreement
with anyone was out of the question, gave it as his opinion that she
was thirty odd and rather plump. Captain Eri didn't hazard a guess, but